Another good book sale weekend

None of these are particularly precious books - no first
editions, but I am thrilled, nevertheless.

Robert Graves, The Greek Myths (Penguin [hardcover] 1957],
2nd American printing in two volumes in slipcase. What
truly appeals to me about this (aside from the fact that it
is Graves) is that he meticulously cites the sources for
each myth. (I was a a Greek and Latin student in college -
along with philosophy.)

Duc de Saint-Simon, Historical Memoirs (McGraw-Hill 1971),
1st American printing in two volumes in slipcase, of
translation by Lucy Norton. Saint-Simon is the Pepys of
France, chronicling the reign of Louis XIV from 1691 to
1715. This period included the War of the League of
Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession. I have read
that in creating characters and events, Proust pulled
heavily from these memoirs, which have only infrequently
been drawn into English. And never has there been an
unabridged translation. Indeed, at the time of the
publication of this book, there had never been a truly
complete French edition.

Henry Hallam, Constitutional History of England from the
Accession of Henry VII to the Death of George II (Harper,
1897), in two volumes. I am a lawyer, and I first studied
law in Canada, where I came upon numerous references to this
work. It took me all of half a second to grab it once I saw
the words "Hallam" and "Constitutional". Harper first
published this in America in 1846, so this is far from a
first, but I am quite satisfied.

Adm. David D. Porter, Naval History of the Civil War,
(Castle 1984), facsimile edition of the 1886 Sherman
Publishing edition.

--
Francis A. Miniter

In dem Lande der Pygmäen
gibt es keine Uniformen,
weder Abzeichen, noch irgend welche Normen,
Und Soldaten sind dort nicht zu sehen.

Siegfried von Vegesack, "Es gibt keine Uniformen"
from In dem Lande der Pygmäen

Francis A. Miniter wrote:
None of these are particularly precious books - no first editions, but I
am thrilled, nevertheless.

Robert Graves, The Greek Myths (Penguin [hardcover] 1957], 2nd American
printing in two volumes in slipcase. What truly appeals to me about
this (aside from the fact that it is Graves) is that he meticulously
cites the sources for each myth. (I was a a Greek and Latin student in
college - along with philosophy.)

Duc de Saint-Simon, Historical Memoirs (McGraw-Hill 1971), 1st American
printing in two volumes in slipcase, of translation by Lucy Norton.
Saint-Simon is the Pepys of France, chronicling the reign of Louis XIV
from 1691 to 1715. This period included the War of the League of
Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession. I have read that in
creating characters and events, Proust pulled heavily from these
memoirs, which have only infrequently been drawn into English. And
never has there been an unabridged translation. Indeed, at the time of
the publication of this book, there had never been a truly complete
French edition.

Henry Hallam, Constitutional History of England from the Accession of
Henry VII to the Death of George II (Harper, 1897), in two volumes. I
am a lawyer, and I first studied law in Canada, where I came upon
numerous references to this work. It took me all of half a second to
grab it once I saw the words "Hallam" and "Constitutional". Harper
first published this in America in 1846, so this is far from a first,
but I am quite satisfied.

Adm. David D. Porter, Naval History of the Civil War, (Castle 1984),
facsimile edition of the 1886 Sherman Publishing edition.

All is good if you are pleased!

I spent much time at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair, where I
spent altogether too much money (as I tend to do at such things).
I also had a useful conversation with someone re organizing
ephemera.

--
Jean B.

On May 2, 9:45�pm, "Jean B." wrote:

I spent much time at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair, where I
spent altogether too much money (as I tend to do at such things).
� I also had a useful conversation with someone re organizing
ephemera.


There used to be a bookfair in Boston that I went to a few times with
friends. This was not antiquarian by any means, but was closer to a
flea market! Books were piled on tables filling a large hall, and you
could (or I could) wander for hours.

J wrote:
On May 2, 9:45�pm, "Jean B." wrote:
I spent much time at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair, where I
spent altogether too much money (as I tend to do at such things).
� I also had a useful conversation with someone re organizing
ephemera.


There used to be a bookfair in Boston that I went to a few times with
friends. This was not antiquarian by any means, but was closer to a
flea market! Books were piled on tables filling a large hall, and you
could (or I could) wander for hours.

Oh my! I wonder what that is/was? Maybe the thing at The Castle?

--
Jean B.

On May 3, 10:16*pm, "Jean B." wrote:
J wrote:

There used to be a bookfair in Boston that I went to a few times with
friends. This was not antiquarian by any means, but was closer to a
flea market! Books were piled on tables filling a large hall, and you
could (or I could) wander for hours.

Oh my! *I wonder what that is/was? *Maybe the thing at The Castle?


I spoke tonight with one of the friends: he told me it was at
Horticultural Hall, and he thought it was a fundraiser (probably for
MassHort). It's the building at Huntington Avenue and Massachusetts
Avenue, across from Symphony Hall. Since 1992, it has been owned by
the Christian Science Church, according to Wikipedia. (It's a lot
longer ago than that we used to go...)

J wrote:
On May 3, 10:16 pm, "Jean B." wrote:
J wrote:

There used to be a bookfair in Boston that I went to a few times with
friends. This was not antiquarian by any means, but was closer to a
flea market! Books were piled on tables filling a large hall, and you
could (or I could) wander for hours.
Oh my! I wonder what that is/was? Maybe the thing at The Castle?


I spoke tonight with one of the friends: he told me it was at
Horticultural Hall, and he thought it was a fundraiser (probably for
MassHort). It's the building at Huntington Avenue and Massachusetts
Avenue, across from Symphony Hall. Since 1992, it has been owned by
the Christian Science Church, according to Wikipedia. (It's a lot
longer ago than that we used to go...)

Thanks for that information, which allows me to place it quite well.

--
Jean B.

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
None of these are particularly precious books - no first
editions, but I am thrilled, nevertheless. [...]
Henry Hallam, Constitutional History of England from the
Accession of Henry VII to the Death of George II (Harper,
1897), in two volumes. I am a lawyer, and I first studied
law in Canada, where I came upon numerous references to this
work. It took me all of half a second to grab it once I saw
the words "Hallam" and "Constitutional". Harper first
published this in America in 1846, so this is far from a
first, but I am quite satisfied.

It had never occurred to me that was very desirable, I've
handled lots of them (and probably managed to sell a grand
total of one copy in the last five years). How many shelf
feet of them do you want?

I *do not* pretend to understand how the second-hand law book
market works, beyond the basics of "looks good" and "still
useful" (I know enough about Scots law to make a fair guess
at the latter).


Actually, most second-hand law books are not very useful.
There are a few that are worthwhile because of the authors
and the importance of the book. For instance, I have a
leather bound copy of Langdell on Contracts. That was the
first casebook to be used in a law school (Harvard) and it
is valuable as the start of what is now the universal method
of teaching law. Another book I have, Wechsler et al, The
Federal Courts and Federal System, is probably the best work
ever on the subject of federal court jurisdiction, and
because I took the course from him. (big whoop unless you
practice in the federal courts a lot, as I do) Ditto with
Farnsworth on Contracts (he was my thesis advisor). Ditto
with Cary on Corporations (also a professor of mine). These
guys were giants in their fields and they were all at
Columbia Law School at the same time.

Beyond that I tend to look for major works that changed the
perception of law, e.g., Beard, An Economic Interpretation
of the Constitution, led the way for Prosser to interpret
many categories of decisions on the basis of economic values
to be forwarded by the courts.

But the Hallam book is valuable, not so much as it
contributes to an understanding of the law, but as it is a
history of legal actions in England that became permanent
principles of government in England. In his first chapter,
for instance, he details the increasing use of the writ of
attainder by Henry VIII to rid himself of wives (esp.
Catherine Howard) and councillors. Hallam grinds through
Henry's extended abuse of the writ, allowing no defense to
be presented to Parliament, for instance. By the time
Hallam is finished with Henry, you can understand why one of
the most specific provisions of the U. S. Constitution (Art.
1, Sec. 8) is a prohibition on writs of attainder and ex
post facto laws (also used to behead Catherine Howard).

Hallam provides a point of view (legal) that is all too
often missing from historians with no legal training.

--
Francis A. Miniter

In dem Lande der Pygmäen
gibt es keine Uniformen,
weder Abzeichen, noch irgend welche Normen,
Und Soldaten sind dort nicht zu sehen.

Siegfried von Vegesack, "Es gibt keine Uniformen"
from In dem Lande der Pygmäen

Francis A. Miniter wrote:
Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
None of these are particularly precious books - no first editions,
but I am thrilled, nevertheless. [...]
Henry Hallam, Constitutional History of England from the Accession of
Henry VII to the Death of George II (Harper, 1897), in two volumes.
I am a lawyer, and I first studied law in Canada, where I came upon
numerous references to this work. It took me all of half a second to
grab it once I saw the words "Hallam" and "Constitutional". Harper
first published this in America in 1846, so this is far from a first,
but I am quite satisfied.

It had never occurred to me that was very desirable, I've
handled lots of them (and probably managed to sell a grand
total of one copy in the last five years). How many shelf
feet of them do you want?

I *do not* pretend to understand how the second-hand law book
market works, beyond the basics of "looks good" and "still
useful" (I know enough about Scots law to make a fair guess
at the latter).


Actually, most second-hand law books are not very useful. There are a
few that are worthwhile because of the authors and the importance of the
book. For instance, I have a leather bound copy of Langdell on
Contracts. That was the first casebook to be used in a law school
(Harvard) and it is valuable as the start of what is now the universal
method of teaching law. Another book I have, Wechsler et al, The
Federal Courts and Federal System, is probably the best work ever on the
subject of federal court jurisdiction, and because I took the course
from him. (big whoop unless you practice in the federal courts a lot,
as I do) Ditto with Farnsworth on Contracts (he was my thesis
advisor). Ditto with Cary on Corporations (also a professor of mine).
These guys were giants in their fields and they were all at Columbia Law
School at the same time.

Beyond that I tend to look for major works that changed the perception
of law, e.g., Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, led
the way for Prosser to interpret many categories of decisions on the
basis of economic values to be forwarded by the courts.

But the Hallam book is valuable, not so much as it contributes to an
understanding of the law, but as it is a history of legal actions in
England that became permanent principles of government in England. In
his first chapter, for instance, he details the increasing use of the
writ of attainder by Henry VIII to rid himself of wives (esp. Catherine
Howard) and councillors. Hallam grinds through Henry's extended abuse
of the writ, allowing no defense to be presented to Parliament, for
instance. By the time Hallam is finished with Henry, you can understand
why one of the most specific provisions of the U. S. Constitution (Art.
1, Sec. 8) is a prohibition on writs of attainder and ex post facto laws
(also used to behead Catherine Howard).

Hallam provides a point of view (legal) that is all too often missing
from historians with no legal training.

That is very interesting, Francis. It points out, too, that those
who have knowledge of a particular subject might just consider
such books to be valuable, while those with no such knowledge
might think they are without merit.

--
Jean B.

It had never occurred to me that was very desirable, I've
handled lots of them (and probably managed to sell a grand
total of one copy in the last five years). How many shelf
feet of them do you want?